Almanac

Menlo Park BBC sexual assault trial ends abruptly with plea

by Sandy Brundage

Although the prosecution was no longer offering a deal, a man charged with committing sexual assault at the British Bankers Club tried to take the deal anyway.

Juan Gustavo Robles-Alejo, 30, pleaded no contest to felony sexual assault of an unconscious person and misdemeanor sexual battery in San Mateo County Superior Court on March 24 after one victim testified.

The district attorney's office said he entered the plea even after prosecutors told him a pre-trial deal for reduced time was no longer on the table. Now facing up to eight years in state prison, he will be sentenced on May 14.

Formerly employed as a busboy and cook at the British Bankers Club in Menlo Park, Mr. Robles-Alejo and Moises Rojas, 26, were charged with assaulting two women at the club on June 9, 2010.

According to police, the suspects followed two women who went to an upstairs room in the club to sleep after becoming intoxicated. They awoke to find Mr. Robles-Alejo fondling them while Mr. Rojas kept watch.

The district attorney's office said the club's security cameras recorded the incident.

Last month Mr. Rojas pleaded no contest to being an accessory to sexual assault. He managed to avoid state prison, thanks to the plea, and instead was sentenced to time served, three years of supervised probation, and $290 in fines.

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